Trepanation in Ancient China

Trepanation Procedures/Outcomes: Comparison of Prehistoric Peru with Other Ancient, Medieval, and American Civil War Cranial Surgery

“…Trepanned crania have been discovered around the world from ancient times possibly dating back as far as 10,000 BC. [9][10][11][12] Similar to the case in Peru, prehistoric surgeons in other parts of the world used 4basic techniques in trepanation, including scraping, grooving, boring and cutting, and rectangular intersecting incisions. 1,10,11,13,14 Sharpened stone, flint, obsidian, or bone instruments were used in the Neolithic period (10,000-2000 BC),with an increase in metal tools during the Bronze Age (2000-600 BC) and the Iron Age (600-200 BC), particularly in Europe and Asia.…”

“…[9][10][11][12] Similar to the case in Peru, prehistoric surgeons in other parts of the world used 4basic techniques in trepanation, including scraping, grooving, boring and cutting, and rectangular intersecting incisions. 1,10,11,13,14 Sharpened stone, flint, obsidian, or bone instruments were used in the Neolithic period (10,000-2000 BC),with an increase in metal tools during the Bronze Age (2000-600 BC) and the Iron Age (600-200 BC), particularly in Europe and Asia. [10][11][12] Motivations for the ancient surgeries apparently included therapeutic (trauma, infection), and therapeutic magic (no clear evidence of trauma or infection and therefore possibly other problem such as headaches, seizures, or mental illness).…”

“…1,10,11,13,14 Sharpened stone, flint, obsidian, or bone instruments were used in the Neolithic period (10,000-2000 BC),with an increase in metal tools during the Bronze Age (2000-600 BC) and the Iron Age (600-200 BC), particularly in Europe and Asia. [10][11][12] Motivations for the ancient surgeries apparently included therapeutic (trauma, infection), and therapeutic magic (no clear evidence of trauma or infection and therefore possibly other problem such as headaches, seizures, or mental illness). For example, a trepanned skull from 3000 BC in China had a right parietal defect (31 x 25 mm) with evidence of long-term survival but no signs of trauma 10,11 whereas another skull from 2000 BC had a biparietal opening (42 x 33 mm) with evidence for depressed skull fractures also with signs of healing.…”

“…[10][11][12] Motivations for the ancient surgeries apparently included therapeutic (trauma, infection), and therapeutic magic (no clear evidence of trauma or infection and therefore possibly other problem such as headaches, seizures, or mental illness). For example, a trepanned skull from 3000 BC in China had a right parietal defect (31 x 25 mm) with evidence of long-term survival but no signs of trauma 10,11 whereas another skull from 2000 BC had a biparietal opening (42 x 33 mm) with evidence for depressed skull fractures also with signs of healing. 11 Multiple trepanations also were done on some trepanning subjects during ancient times.…”

“…For example, a trepanned skull from 3000 BC in China had a right parietal defect (31 x 25 mm) with evidence of long-term survival but no signs of trauma 10,11 whereas another skull from 2000 BC had a biparietal opening (42 x 33 mm) with evidence for depressed skull fractures also with signs of healing. 11 Multiple trepanations also were done on some trepanning subjects during ancient times. For example, in a series of 13 skull discovered in China dating as far back as 1000 BC, nearly all had evidence of trauma, whereas several had up to 5trepanations and one had 7 openings, and all had evidence of healing.…”